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Michael Allen

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Community Manager, WORKetc

36 points

Oct. 24, 2011

Michael Allen and 30 other people answered this question

Is CRM really worth the hassle?

You should take into consideration what you manage on top of CRM. Most CRM systems are catered towards larger organizations, and as a smaller organization I'd recommend looking into something that helps businesses your size specifically.
Integration is a huge aspect of these applications, as ... more

Customer Service

Oct. 18, 2011

Michael Allen and 13 other people answered this question

For a start-up, what are the best CRM and marketing automation apps that need the fewest add-ons?

Hey Jeff,
I'd recommend looking into something like WORKetc if you want to take the entire scope of operations into account while dealing with as few apps as possible. Does your client need to manage projects or billing?
I ask because WORKetc puts CRM, email marketing, project ... more

Constant Contact

July 26, 2011

Michael Allen and 8 other people answered this question

Can anyone catch Salesforce.com in the CRM space? If so, how?

While Salesforce dominates the general 'CRM' arena, there are CRM-niche-areas popping up all over the place, and this makes it a lot harder for someone to properly tell who's going to 'catch' salesforce.
For example, CRM was originally designed for larger businesses (ERP) and because ... more

Information Technology

July 18, 2011

Michael Allen and 5 other people answered this question

What are your project management software 'must haves?'

To expand on other answers for emphasis: this depends entirely on your business. You must go over what your business needs, make a list, and demo products that take these needs into account.
For example, if you are part of a smaller company, integration will likely ... more

Management Software

Project Development

Project Management

July 14, 2011

Michael Allen answered this question at this roundtable

Do Small Businesses Have Their Heads in the Cloud? [7/14 @ 11 am]

What are the Cloud services SMBs are most interested in?

For small businesses, integration is becoming a key factor in deciding what software to get.
SMBs have commonly gone the route of using separate apps to manage CRM, projects, billing, etc. The problem becoming commonplace now, is that these single-purpose apps offer little integration and ... more

General Management

Information Technology

July 4, 2011

Michael Allen and 9 other people answered this question

What are the best front-office software applications for SMBs?

As Brian mentions, there's many single-focus solutions for handling specific tasks, as well as integrated solutions that package more into one. The problem with single-focus apps however, is that small businesses usually need more out of their software and have to resort to additional applications. ... more

Information Technology

June 26, 2011

Michael Allen and 12 other people answered this question

What is a good web-based CRM for a small business?

Be sure to find something that integrates all of what you need into one system, don't go with multiple apps.
It's important to centralize all business functions into one system that makes it easier to jump from task to task and group tasks together. When using ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

June 26, 2011

Michael Allen and 3 other people answered this question

How many CRM vendors actually use their own software to support sales?

WORKetc is well known for using their own software to manage everything they do, and they make it explicit (Dan Barnett, founder, talks about it here: http://www.worketc.com/Blogs/Development/69 )
WORKetc is active within it's community and uses it's own software to help know when things are in ... more

Enterprise Software

June 13, 2011

Michael Allen and 21 other people answered this question

What is the best back-office software for SMBs?

Many small businesses try and manage themselves through multiple applications (because this is something most enterprises must do). They start with CRM, pick up project management software, then billing, the list goes on. The problem in the end is that SMBs are too small to ... more

Business Intelligence

June 12, 2011

Michael Allen and 3 other people answered this question

What are some open source CRM recommendation for small business using ms office

As a small business, you should be looking into integrated systems. Trying to manage operations through different applications (i.e. having a separate CRM, project management, and billing software) that don't integrate properly is inefficient and costly.
Look into something that allows you to manage everything your ... more

Information Technology

June 2, 2011

Michael Allen and 8 other people answered this question

What is the best project/task management software for small business?

A great integrated solution worth taking a look at is WORKetc. You would be able to manage all of your clients, leads, projects, to-dos, events, support issues, files, and even timesheets and billing if you need to.
It's great for small, remote teams, as you ... more

Information Technology

Project Management

Task Management

May 19, 2011

Michael Allen and 1 other person answered this question

Which invoicing software is your favorite and why?

Invoicing software or accounting software is often a mandatory add-on to the software list of companies, on top of the other software they need, I.E. project management/CRM tools.
The reason why WORKetc is great, is it combines invoicing software and finance features with project management ... more

Invoicing Tools

May 18, 2011

Michael Allen and 4 other people answered this question

Which project management software is your favorite and why?

Many project management apps leave holes in other aspects of business management. If you go with a powerful PM system, many companies still have to take care of CRM, billing, time tracking, support, and other needs.
WORKetc gets my vote here as it provides detailed project ... more

Information Technology

Project Management

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Business Software

Project Management

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